Basketball Highlights: The Only Solution

by meghanelizabethdewey

My door handle has been acting up recently (it’s probably just as antsy for spring break as the rest of us). Just like the other moody things inside of my classroom (students only being one of them), it’s chosen to be wobbly and unreliable. On Tuesday, one of my football players would not stand for my door handle’s insubordination any longer, and in a bout of frustration…pulled it clean off. Again, just like anything that’s moody in my classroom, this confrontation did not alleviate the situation. It made it worse. Now, it’s nearly impossible to open the door from the inside anymore. Which means if the door is closed, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether we’ll be able to get out.

On Wednesday, I had to cover a class during my second hour. Rather than fighting my door handle, I opted to grab my valuables and leave my door unlocked — really, if a student wants to steal spare worksheets, more power to him. Forty-five minutes later, as I’m returning to my classroom, I see K walking down the hallway with a sheepish grin on his face, followed by J.

“Ms. Barnett! I just got locked inside of your classroom for the past forty-five minutes! J just let me out!”
“Oh, good. What did you do in there?!”
“…Well. I just sat down in the dark and watched basketball highlights.”

Naturally, in the event of getting locked in a classroom, it’s doesn’t make sense to knock on the door or wave at passersby in the window. It doesn’t make sense to call or text a friend (who is inevitably sneaking peeks at his/her cell phones during class…c’mon, it’s high school). Or calling the main office? Nah. The only thing to do is to sit down and watch basketball highlights.